"Security tightens outside U.S. airports"

Thursday, April 3, 2003

Security tightens outside airports
By Matthew Barrows
The Sacramento (CA) Bee


Federal officials who have been securing the inside of airports the last 18
months are now focusing on the outside, including locations where terrorists
could try to take down a plane with shoulder-fired missiles.

The threat of a missile attack against a commercial airliner came into focus
in November when terrorists shot at -- but missed -- an Israeli aircraft
taking off from Mombasa, Kenya.

The next month, the Transportation Security Administration began conducting
vulnerability assessments of major U.S. airports.
   
And though they emphasize that there have been no credible threats against
American airports, federal authorities increased their efforts in recent
months, working with the most at-risk airports on countering such an attack.

At San Francisco International, for instance, officials have stepped up
perimeter patrols and created a "standoff zone" around the airport.

At the state's busiest airport, Los Angeles International, a National Guard
infantry platoon was brought in to provide additional security at the
request of Mayor James Hahn. Airport officials said the guardsmen are
assisting in perimeter patrols, but that their presence is related to the
nation's current orange, or high, security level, not the threat of a
missile attack.

Sacramento International Airport officials say the airport is not part of
the current Transportation Security Administration inspections.

Still, they said, perimeter checks increased when the war in Iraq began two
weeks ago. Sacramento County sheriff's deputies conduct patrols on the
two-lane roads immediately around the airport while the California Highway
Patrol checks nearby areas in Yolo and Sutter counties.

"The most common thing we're turning up is drug activity," said sheriff's
Lt. Norman Wagemann. He also said a late-night patrol last week uncovered an
at-large parolee who was parked at a boat ramp off Garden Highway. When
deputies approached the car, the driver led authorities on a chase that
ended in San Joaquin County.

"When I see reports like that come across my desk, I know my guys are
actively patrolling beyond the fence line of the airport," Wagemann said.

Still, the range and small size of shoulder-fired missiles means they can be
fired from just about anywhere near an airport.

Officials are worried about American-made Stinger models that were
distributed to Afghanistan's mujahedeen fighters in the 1980s during their
war with the Soviet Union. After the Soviets were repelled, the weapons are
believed to have fallen into the hands of Taliban and al-Qaida operatives.

The United States has conducted buy-back programs in the region, but
hundreds of Stingers are still unaccounted for.

Even more abundant are Soviet-made SA-7 missiles similar to those used in
the Kenya attack. Coalition forces in southern Iraq have uncovered caches of
weapons and munitions, including crates of SA-7s.

Both models -- lightweight and portable -- can reach planes at an altitude
of 10,000 feet and can be fired up to two miles away from an airport. The
missiles lock onto the heat from a plane's engines.

"You're basically going to use them in that critical envelope, which is
takeoff and landing," said Leo Labaj, a former CIA counterterrorism official
who now works for a Virginia security analysis firm. "You can fire a
missile, the plane comes down and you're gone before anyone knows what
happened."

Brian Roehrkasse, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said federal
officials are addressing the problem in three ways.

The first is an attempt to buy shoulder-fired missiles on the international
black market, an effort that Roehrkasse says has "had some progress."

Another tactic being examined is to equip commercial airliners with
military-style protection systems that recognize when a missile has been
fired.

In February, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Steve Israel,
D-N.Y., introduced bills that would equip the nation's 6,800 commercial
jetliners at approximately $1 million a plane. The bills have gotten a cool
reception on Capitol Hill, mostly because of the nearly $7 billion price
tag.

Officials say that avoidance equipment consists of four sensors on the belly
of the plane that would locate approaching missiles and then jam the
missiles' guidance system. Similar countermeasures are used on some of
Israel's El Al Airlines planes.

An amendment to Boxer's bill was introduced this week that would provide the
Homeland Security Department with $30 million to research possible missile
avoidance systems.

The last strategy is to tighten security around airports, a difficult
proposition considering that many are surrounded by open fields or woodlands
while others have urban development just on the other side of the fence.

Bay Area airport officials said they have an advantage in that the runways
are surrounded on three sides by water, which is both off-limits to private
watercraft and patrolled by the U.S. Coast Guard.

"One of the best security features is the aircraft tower," said San
Francisco International spokesman Mike McCarron. "They're looking out at the
bay 24 hours a day."

Given the range of shoulder-fired missiles, Roehrkasse said the
Transportation Security Administration also has been organizing so-called
aviation watch groups -- people who work in the vicinity of airports who
agree to contact authorities if they see something out of place.

Clam diggers who frequent the mud flats around Boston's Logan Airport, for
instance, have been given cell phones to report suspicious activity. At
Oakland International Airport, officials have contacted nearby homeowners
groups for the same purpose.

"It's really a function of everyone being aware," said Steven Grossman,
director of aviation at Oakland International. "If you see something
unusual, you report it."

Attached Photo:

Sacramento International Airport, as seen in May 2001, is largely surrounded
by open land. Officials say the airport is not part of the federal security
inspection program, but perimeter checks were increased when the war in Iraq
began. Sacramento County sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol
officers patrol nearby roads.

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